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Naos - A Practical Guide to Modern Magick

This is an ONA publication. Manuscript was given to Hagur by Xaphan (J.F.) (Houston, Texas), for publication, which he did in 1999, and brought the work on e-book (pdf) in 2008. ONA publications are in fact "public domain", as previously stated by Christos Beest (Moulton). This copy is re-arranged and published by Hagur. Hagur is since 1998 an ONA practioner.

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The essence of achieving success in both ceremonial and hermetic rituals is to restrict the aim of the ritual to one, very specific, aim and to find before the ritual a) a simple visualisation of this aim; b) a phrase (which may be chanted/vibrated) which captures the aim in a few words. This phrase can itself be written down (e.g. on parchment and in a secret code of your own devising or in one of the well-known `Occult' scripts) and ceremonially burned during the ritual.

This aim must then become your desire - and a ritual is a means whereby this desire may be achieved. It is essential, of course, for this desire to be strong, and the techniques of magick are simply a means whereby this desire can be strengthened and directed.

The easiest technique to use and master is frenzy. This is when you gradually work yourself up to a height of emotion and excitement - and the ritual form is a means to aid this, providing a setting in both time and space. In a ceremonial ritual, for example, you should use the set texts (such as the Satanic 'Our Father' or the Invokation to Baphomet) as a means of generating from within yourself the necessary emotion, saying the words forcefully and with drama. If you are conducting a ritual with others present, get them into the right frame of mind beforehand as this helps to generate from them a certain amount of magickal energy - you might, for instance, keep them in a dark room for about half an hour before the start of the ritual. It is essential for you to stage-manage the ritual, making it a memorable event. The whole ritual from beginning to end should be emotive.

To achieve and sustain such emotion and drama takes practice. A good magickian will 'play to' his congregation like a good actor in a theatre does - ceremonial magick has always been a dramatic Art. The adept sorcerer (or sorceress) will also sometimes invoke extempore in ceremonial rituals, and for this some chants should be memorized beforehand: to be used as and when the occasion demands.

Rituals - both ceremonial and hermetic - demand energy, and you are the spark which ignites the Promethean fire. To generate this spark requires effort, both physical and mental, and you should at the end of any ritual feel elated but tired: be, in fact, almost on the edge of exhaustion. If you are not, the ritual is unlikely to be successful. This is one of the most important things to remember. It is no good just saying the words, doing a bit of chanting or waving implements about: you must be emotional. You must literally drive yourself almost to the point of possession, of divine/diabolic madness but always with your desire (i.e. the aim of the ritual) firmly before you, stopping just short of total abandonment. You must be prepared to dance, leap, laugh, cry and shout - but must be capable of changing abruptly: cultivating the dramatic silence and stare.

In most ceremonial rituals it is one of the tasks of the congregation to abandon themselves - to the dance their lusts and so on but you, as ceremonial master/mistress, cannot since you must direct the energies unleashed. There is a balance in any ritual which only experience teaches, and mastery involves undertaking rituals often in order to develop the skills required.

Rituals work through energy: this energy is directed via visualization and chant/vibration through your own desire. That is, the living ritual is the channel or 'Gate' which allows a flow of acausal energy into the causal ('everyday') universe. This energy re-orders the causal - that is, produces changes.

One of the first priorities of any aspiring sorcerer should be to acquire and furnish an area as a Temple - and/or find a suitable isolated location outdoors. Temple furnishings should be simple, and space must be left for movement. Be creative and individual about creating the right atmosphere in the Temple - for example, a 'plasma ball' in a candle-lit Temple is more impressive than a boring collection of old bones or a skull. Do not use symbols or designs which you yourself do not understand/know the meaning of and keep to one tradition. For example, a genuine, traditional Satanist would never use any qabalistic symbolism or statues/implements/sigils from dead Aeons (e.g. Egyptian, Sumerian). Instead, there would be septenary and Dark Gods symbolism (for which see 'Codex Saerus' and 'Naos - A Guide to Sinister hermetic Magick').

This may seem pedantic, but it is essential for you to feel part of a living, exclusive tradition - someone party to secret knowledge which outsiders do not possess nor understand if shown. For successful magick, being exclusive means added power and charisma.

Develop your chanting and vibrating ability by regular practice, and do not be afraid of using Latin chants. They are not used simply because few understand the language - but because of all languages, Latin lends itself best to being chanted according to the principles of esoteric chant (qv. 'Naos'). It was also the language used in the traditional Black Mass, and a few untranslated chants have survived the centuries. These chants should be among those memorised to be used extempore.